In the age of the transfer portal and NIL, Keondre Swoopes, along with 10 fellow seniors on the UAB football team, represents a small cross-section of college football players who have spent their entire career in the program with whom they originally signed their letter of intent.

Swoopes and his senior cohorts will take the field one last time as the Blazers conclude the regular season against North Texas, Saturday, Nov. 25, at DATCU Stadium, formerly Apogee, in Denton, Texas.

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UAB (4-7, 3-4 AAC) leads the series over North Texas, 6-1, and all the remaining members of Swoopes’ class have never lost to the Mean Green during their Blazer careers. The only loss to North Texas came in the fourth game of the 2017 season, after returning from a two-year hiatus.

“We’re ready for the task,” Swoopes said. “This is my last game at North Texas and I don’t believe I’ve lost there. So, we’re ready to lock them boys up regardless. Whoever they got, we’re going to out there and step.”

A 3-star cornerback prospect out of Hartselle (Ala.), according to the 247Sports Composite, Swoopes, who added 25 pounds to his 6-foot, 165-pound frame, signed with the Blazers during the 2019 recruiting cycle and made an immediate impact in his true freshman season. He appeared in all 14 games, posting seven tackles and five pass breakups, and had a 41-game streak until missing the Charlotte win last season.

Swoopes has missed only three games in his career, including the first game of the 2023 campaign, and currently leads the team with 65 tackles, two interceptions, two force fumbles and recoveries and a pass breakup. In 57 appearances, Swoopes has amassed 166 tackles (3 for loss), 18 pass breakups, five interceptions and three fumble recoveries.

“UAB meant my family, the whole way through,” Swoopes said. “I had opportunities to leave but these are my boys. I’m big on loyalty so I don’t ever want to switch up on my boys. I stayed and persevered through the coaching changes, got close to them, and we dialed in from there.”

Even though he fulfilled his commitment at the end of last season, Swoopes utilized his COVID-19 waiver for an extra year of eligibility but turned away more high-profile, and lucrative, opportunities to remain at UAB for a final season and mentor a young and rather green group of defensive backs.

“I love the task of teaching the younger guys,” Swoopes said. “When I came in, I was under guys like Dy’jonn Turner and Kris Moll and they taught me the ropes. When it came my time, I took in Ricky (Lee), (Chris) Bracy and A.J. (Brown). I taught them how to do it right and hopefully, they continue that legacy.”

Swoopes has been one of UAB’s most consistent performers since the return of the program, including the coaching changes of the last two years, and has no regrets in his career considering the heights the program reached during his tenure.

Of his many endeavors, Swoopes’ 61-yard interception return for a touchdown against No. 2 Georgia in the 2021 season is a career highlight but winning the CUSA title in 2020 at Marshall, after falling to FAU in 2019, will be the lasting memory of his college football experience.

“The pick-6 (at Georgia) is definitely up there for sure,” Swoopes said. “But winning the championship at Marshall – I was never part of a championship team and that was my first time. It’ll always be one of my top accomplishments”